US Southwest Has Fastest-Growing Cities

New U.S. Census statistics released Thursday show that cities in the Southwest of the United States are growing faster than most other areas, with the area including the Texas capital, Austin, showing the largest municipal population growth in the country last year.

The population within the Austin city limits grew by nearly 21,000 people in 2013, but most of the area's growth came in three municipalities on the outskirts of the Texas capital -- San Marcos, Cedar Park and Georgetown -- that were each among the 10 fastest-growing cities in the country.

Seven of the 15 fastest-growing cities were in Texas. Other cities on the list were in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland.

The Census found the list of largest cities in the U.S. was largely unchanged in 2013 - with New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago toping the list.

The total U.S. population is currently estimated at just more than 318 million, while the world population is nearly 7.2 billion.